Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh distanced himself from the continued controversy surrounding Vinesh Phogat’s participation in wrestling trials, saying the matter falls solely below the jurisdiction of the present WFI administration. Nevertheless, Brij Bhushan defended the federation’s functioning throughout his tenure, asserting that the physique by no means stopped any athlete from competing with out legitimate motive. “The place the wrestling might be held or the place they won’t be held shouldn’t be my topic. That may be a matter for the Wrestling Federation of India to determine: the place the trials will happen, who will take part, and who is not going to.
Since I’ve served because the president of the Wrestling Federation of India for a few years, I can say from my expertise that WFI by no means stops any athlete from collaborating as a result of WFI exists for the welfare of the gamers. If somebody has been prevented from collaborating, there will need to have been a motive for it, and that motive would even have been communicated,” he informed reporters.
In its 15-page present trigger to Vinesh, the WFI had declared the wrestler “ineligible” to take part in any sanctioned competitions or occasions till a minimum of June 26, 2026. This ban particularly excludes her from the 2026 Senior Open Rating Event scheduled to start Sunday in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
The previous World Championships medallist attended the Nationwide Open Rating Event and met with WFI president Sanjay Singh. The federation claimed she couldn’t take part as a result of disciplinary proceedings towards her have been nonetheless ongoing below WADA’s Rule 5.6.1, which applies to retired athletes returning to competitors.
After the assembly, Vinesh informed reporters that she had by no means violated any anti-doping guidelines and had solely missed one whereabouts submitting.
“If I had damaged any rule, NADA India would have given me a show-cause discover or banned me. WADA would have finished the identical,” she stated.
“I missed one whereabouts. There are three of them. I had simply develop into a mom at the moment. I had an meeting session. I forgot to replace. I even apologised to WADA for that. They cleared me and informed me I can take part in any worldwide occasion.”
Vinesh questioned the federation’s place, stating that worldwide authorities had accepted her eligibility so there ought to be no confusion.
“And right here they are saying they don’t seem to be glad with something. If I can compete internationally, then they need to settle for the Worldwide Federation’s choice that I can play,” she stated.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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